How to use this section
This section is laid out so that you can explore the different kinds of project your church might pursue. Each subheading represents a different type of project and is laid out as follows:
i. project type
A description or explanation is given of the project’s context and our Christian response to that context. This is thten followed by three related resources:
Related resources:
§ Advice
sources of advice on how you should go about planning your project
§ sharing life sharing stories
examples of churches in the diocese and further afield that have successfully completed such projects
§ Funding sources
funders and grantors that support this kind of project
§ Guidelines or helpmates
Documents that can help you build up a picture of the kind of project you might develop
NB. There can be many natural project overlaps. For example, a reordering project within your church might also involve restoration work and create a focus for children’s ministry. Another project might involve the refurbishment and re-equipping of your church hall to serve the needs of your local community.
Reaching out
Our Church reaches out ceaselessly to the whole community:
§ by proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel
§ by living the Gospel through social, cultural or educational work, often in partnership with private, voluntary, charitable and public sectors
§ by providing a local voice, local network, and local leaders, both paid and voluntary
§ by underpinning the work of social cohesion and community enrichment
§ in regeneration work with inner city and rural communities alike
§ as part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, by supporting and enabling multicultural and interfaith endeavours.
Project types
i. urban communities
ii. rural communities
iv. children
child protection
building faith and community in church schools
v. young people
participation
partnership
vi. young families
vii. the sick, those in need and the recently bereaved
viii. older people and the isolated
ix. through community action
x. through cultural activities
xi. through tourism and education
Caring for and using your buildings
Our church buildings form the springboard and hub of all this activity and much more besides.
§ all churches in use, of whatever age and architectural merit, are places where people can meet and worship
§ nearly all serve as centres for community and social service, cultural and educational activity.
As a diocese and as part of the Church of England we are committed to:
§ using church buildings to reach out to our communities
§ grasping the challenges of enabling each building to fulfil its potential for wider use
§ securing the resources to enable them to do so; and
§ fostering partnerships taking account of the contribution which these buildings make to the community and the nation.
Project types
i. Reordering your church building
Access for all
ii. Reordering as a community amenity
iii. Restoring your building
Furniture and fittings
iv. (Re)building your church or hall
v. Creating a sustainable presence
Caring for your churchyard
Project types
i. Creating a quiet place
ii. Environmental discovery
iii. Local and family history
Reaching out
ii. urban communities
Our churches are well placed to meet the challenge of urban and community renewal. In urban areas our church communities can reach individuals and groups who are not easily reached by other organizations. Using church buildings for activities besides worship can offer scope for a sustainable future, enrich the life of the neighbourhood, help to meet repair and running costs and develop the skills of both the worshipping and the wider community.
Related resources:
§ Advice
§ sharing life sharing stories
§ Funding sources
iii. rural communities
Our church buildings serve as a symbol and physical focus of the rural community encapsulating its history and identity. Our church communities respond to an extraordinary variety of needs and form a hub for the work of those communities. Our churches are often the only building accessible to all.
§ Rural churches can provide crucial services to local communities
§ Churches have resources; buildings, land, spaces, people, ideas and energy
§ Churches can help give a voice to many groups: women, the elderly, the young, ethnic and other minority groups and those with special needs
§ Rural areas with sparse populations often have high numbers of parish churches – an opportunity for the communities, but a pressure to maintain.
Related resources:
§ Advice
§ sharing life sharing stories
§ Funding sources
iv. children
Many obstacles currently prevent growth in children’s work in the Church. Too often, church for children is about containing and entertaining, rather than engaging with and growing young Christians who can give as much as they receive.
As outward looking church communities we need to develop practical and effective strategies for involving and nurturing the children in our communities
It is important for us to understand how dramatic cultural, social and economic trends of recent years have impacted on children’s lives and how this affects our church life. Whilst there are many challenges facing those working with children, there are equally many opportunities to help children to experience church.
The single most important challenge is to see your church from the perspective of the children and young people and then seek to shape your church around them, rather than expecting them to fit in with your church.
Building faith and community in church schools
Uniquely amongst ‘faith’ schools, our Church of England schools are almost always community schools too, required to take children from a catchment area, regardless of their faith. There are 280 Church of England schools in the Oxford Diocese and they strive to contribute to community cohesion from a solidly Christian base, promoting self-respect and self-confidence in their pupils – the best antidote to the discord which faces many of our communities.
Stephen Cottrell (Bishop of Reading and chair of the diocesan Board of Education) said:
“We believe that the environment of faith is the best environment in which to nurture and educate young people. And because the truth directs us to love each other with gracious, tolerant and accepting openness, we build an environment in church schools that is able to honour God and also honour people of all faiths or of no faith at all.
We help those who are already Christian and we lay before others the delights and challenges of the Christian faith without coercion or judgement.”
Sue Newby (headteacher for 23 years of Wroxton school, north Oxfordshire a voluntary controlled school) said:
“Many parents do consider their own beliefs very carefully before they send their children to a church school. Parents often say they want their children to be in a school where there is a strong Christian ethos. It also appeals to parents that C of E schools are often quite high in the league tables but the ethos and expectations we have of our children do feed into our academic results.
I have Muslim and Hindu children and when their parents apply, they say they want their children to be in a church school because they want them to be in place where religion is valued, even if it isn't their own religion.
I do also have quite a large percentage of Christian parents in my school – they want their children in an environment where God is valued.”
Child protection
Whatever the format of a church's children's work, it is important that child protection guidelines and good practice are implemented at all levels.
To ensure that all children who have contact with the Church of England are safeguarded, the House of Bishops has published its policy and regulations in Protecting All God's Children.
The regulations are in place to protect not only children and young people, but also those adults who are committed to working with and for them.
Protecting Children in the Diocese of Oxford has been published to help churches implement the House of Bishops’ policy (above).
Both booklets are available from Stephen Barber at Diocesan Church House.
Related resources:
§ Advice
§ sharing life sharing stories
§ Funding sources
§ Rural childcare venues toolkit (prepared by Action in Rural Sussex)
iv. young people
The emphasis of our Church’s work with young people is on promoting informal education and learning that provide a range of opportunities for the spiritual growth and social development of those between the ages of 11 and 25 years. The Church's concern is not only for young people within it but also those in the wider community.
Participation
Enabling and encouraging young people to participate more fully in church and community life has been and continues to be a major area of ongoing development.
Partnership
In many instances our work with young people involves collaboration and partnership with other Anglican voluntary societies, as well as with a variety of Christian and secular agencies. These include the National Youth Agency, the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services, Churches Together in England, and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. The Church of England also works in partnership with the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and is included in the Department's register of National Voluntary Youth Organizations.
Related resources:
§ Advice
§ sharing life sharing stories
§ Funding sources
v. young families
Human love is what makes us or breaks us. It is through good relationships with others – colleagues, family, friends and lovers - that human beings thrive. Bad and abusive relationships can do untold harm to a person’s identity and sense of themselves.
Our Christian community has long promoted marriage and family life as a context for human flourishing. But there are relationships other than marriage where such flourishing can happen, and not all marriages are happy and healthy ones.
Equality, reciprocity, mutuality and authentic consent are some of the touchstones of good relationships. What can we as Christians bring to this complex debate?
Related resources:
§ Advice
§ sharing life sharing stories
§ Funding sources
vi. the sick, those in need and the recently bereaved
“Pastoral care is that aspect of the Church’s ministry concerned with the well-being of individuals and communities.”
Alastair Campbell (1987) A Dictionary of Pastoral Care
Our church’s ministry of pastoral care thus enables us to express compassion and to pray for those who are ill or terminally ill at home or in hospital, and to offer condolences, prayer and support to the bereaved.
Related resources:
§ Advice:
§ sharing life sharing stories
§ Funding sources
vii. older people and the isolated
Human beings all share the same spiritual needs - love, hope, faith, something to worship and peace. We all need to feel useful, thankful, have our value accepted and we require to maintain personal dignity and self-esteem. To ignore these essential needs ignores an important part of what it means to be a human being.
This inner being needs nurturing and, as we grow in company, we need to ensure that people are able to continue to grow with others in the body of the church, whatever age they are.
80% of older people say they pray regularly. Yet the spiritual needs of older people are often neglected. Our church communities should (re)consider ministry to this section of the congregation.
Related resources:
§ Advice
§ sharing life sharing stories
§ Funding sources
§ Meeting the Needs of the Older Generation (2006: Janet Parker consultant adviser, SCOP – Spiritual Care for Older People)
ix. through community action
Living as we do in a highly individualistic culture, it’s easy to forget that without the community around us, we are nothing. Until there is a crisis – flood, bomb, or accident – then suddenly we regain our sense of ourselves as highly dependent upon others. What makes a good community? What is the church’s role in different kinds of communities: urban, rural, rich and poor? What have we to say in the arena of policy-making about housing, transport, culture and education?
Concern for the needs of people and communities is central to all of the great religions of the world. The church takes its inspiration from the teaching of Jesus about liberating the poor and oppressed. Poverty is often relative. The social exclusion of those in western society is keenly felt by those who live amongst increasing wealth and prosperity in society; the poverty of those in developing countries is about survival in a world increasingly seeking wealth creation often at their expense. Many of our churches and other faith communities are already engaged in social inclusion projects at home and abroad.
With access to volunteers, a structure not unlike a voluntary organisation and with a commitment to social action springing from a religious view of life, churches and faith communities are close to the communities and people they serve in the way that other agencies are not.
Working in partnership with other organizations makes sense; churches, other faith groups, charities and agencies working together can maximise resources, including personnel, for the greater good of both communities and individuals.
This is especially relevant when the UK Government’s Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) specifically recognize the important role of faith communities.
Our church communities therefore have a wonderful opportunity to grasp the hand of partnership working offered in the current climate of community planning.
Related resources:
§ Advice
§ sharing life sharing stories
§ Funding sources
x. through cultural activities
Our churches regularly act as centres for culture, whether it is through music, art or drama.
Gary Churchill (Creative Options Consultancy Ltd for Arts Council East Midlands) writes of this in Towards a Cultural Strategy for Churches in the East Midlands, July 2003:
“Churches can contribute to this initiative by:
§ encouraging people and communities to take part in cultural activities